This application relates generally to footwear and more particularly to attachments which are adapted to be readily mounted to the upper of an article of primary footwear, e.g., a shoe or boot, so that a portion of the attachment is on the sole/heel of the primary footwear to provide enhanced traction.
Various ice gripping, sandal-like, attachments for footwear are commercially available and have been disclosed in the patent literature. Examples of such patented devices are found in the following U.S. Pat. No. 1,032,600 (Grout); U.S. Pat. No. 2,361,972 (Smith); U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,850 (McNair); U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,181 (Jordan); U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,238 (Peyser); U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,172 (Bryant); U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,939 (McNeil et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,883 (Zock, Jr.).
There are also some spike or cleat-bearing attachments which are commercially available for use on footwear to prevent slippage on ice or other slippery surfaces. One such type of attachment is sold under the trademark "RUD Shoe Chain" and is a rubber ring having chains extending between opposed portions of the ring. The rubber ring is arranged to be stretched over the upper of a boot or shoe so that the chains extend under the sole and heel to provide traction on ice and snow.
Another type of attachment is sold under the trademark SPIKY and is in the form of a resilient rubber sling or overshoe having plural metal spikes or cleats on the bottom thereof and which are arranged to dig into ice when the attachment is worn over an article of primary footwear, e.g., a boot or shoe.
While the aforementioned prior art devices are generally suitable for their intended purposes, they still leave something to be desired from various standpoints, such as simplicity of construction, compactness, ease of mounting and removing, integrity of components and effectiveness.
Other prior art attachment devices for footwear are shown in the following U.S. Pat. No. 1,716,790 (Mitchell), U.S. Pat. No. 1,747,603 (Ruth), U.S. Pat. No. 1,877,080 (Teshima), U.S. Pat. No. 2,076,316 (Beals, Jr.), U.S. Pat. No. 2,617,209 (Jackson), U.S. Pat. No. 2,628,437 (Forsythe), U.S. Pat. No. 3,012,343 (Dinkel), U.S. Pat. No. 3,040,451 (Helkemeyer), U.S. Pat. No. 3,609,888 (Rickman), U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,372 (McCall), U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,890 (Covell et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,662 (Ilon), U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,608 (Mongonye), U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,687 (Rohde), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,582 (Liautand). All of the aforementioned devices also suffer from one or more drawbacks.